Just for a Laugh
by YummyYaoiSandwiches
Summary: It was only supposed to be a joke. Just a goofy prank to get under Hikaru's skin. Kaoru, ACTUALLY fall for the host club prince? Ha, good one! But what if his plan goes a little too well? The other Hitachiin twin finds himself caught flat-footed as the giggle fest begins to die down... Is he actually falling for Tamaki Suoh?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: An Idea**

It was lonely, being alone. As redundant a statement as it was, Kaoru felt it described his feelings rather accurately.

Well, if you wanted to be technical, he wasn't "alone", in that other human beings were not physically present, because they were. An abundance of them, if he bothered to look, or even if he didn't, depending on where he was. At school, the hoards of squealing girls were evident whether he wanted to notice them or not. Elsewhere, he was probably in the company of a handful of friends more often than he wasn't, engaging in some sort of lunacy. If not that, he was guaranteed at least one other, identical looking person for companionship.

Or at least, that's how it had been, up until recently.

And it wasn't as if Hikaru was not physically present, because he was. They spent time together, but it wasn't the same. Or it wasn't for him, at any rate. It seemed that his lovable dimwit of a brother had yet to realize that anything had changed, although that was the way Kaoru preferred it. For his brother to feel the same heartache as he was feeling, was something he wished to delay as much as possible.

Still...

He had to admit to himself that sometimes, deep down, he wished Hikaru would notice. Maybe not realize the entire situation just yet, but notice... something. How could it be that despite being together their entire lives, his brother was completely oblivious? You would think that with how close they were, he would at least have an idea, a feeling, any sense of the fact that something was bothering him. But no.

Such thoughts were shoved as quickly as he could manage to the back of his head whenever they reared their ugly heads. He was just being selfish. Hikaru's happiness was what was truly important. And she would take care of him...

That was another thing. "She". Haruhi Fujioka.

At one time, Kaoru would've said he loved her. That was still true, just not in quite the same way. Since he'd given up on her himself to give his twin a fighting chance, as time went on, the more any and all romantic stirs began to fade away, to be replaced by something less hot and passionate, to something more warm and affectionate. It was nothing more than a lingering crush at this point, if anything. She was far too much like a sister to him now.

Truth be told, for all Haruhi's many wonderful and redeeming qualities, he felt a little bit mean saying that there was probably only one real reason that he had liked her so much. She was the first person not afraid to step into their world. To get to know them for who they really were. It was because she had been different.

But Hikaru had always needed that kind of thing more than he had. She was good for him. From afar, he'd watch them talk and laugh. Every once in awhile he'd join in, of course, but he liked to give them a good deal of space. They'd never get anywhere if they didn't get any privacy, after all, and it was probably going to take those two big dummies long enough to figure out their own feelings as it was. His heart was going to hurt for awhile... for her... for his brother. But he would survive somehow.

… Although.

Determined as he was to never let his own emotions get the best of him, a little fun shouldn't hurt anything. One thing he missed about spending time with Hikaru was all the jokes they used to make and the pranks they used to pull. Unlike his twin though, who was usually the ringleader in these things, he wasn't quite such a sadist. Just a mischievous, brotherly poke in the ribs would do just fine. The big dummy deserved it anyway. A wry smirk formed on his handsome face as he pondered the best way to irk his brother just enough.

The answer was obvious, of course. A taste of his own medicine. A cookie of his own dough. Not so much so as to actually hurt Hikaru, not at all, just bug him. Show him what it feels like to be a little bit jealous. The first few times, he disregarded the idea because the thought of schmoozing up one of the ladies just didn't appeal to him. They were all lovely girls, he was sure, special in their own way and all that, but really, besides Haruhi, he'd never felt much toward them. And he'd felt that way about Haruhi because she was really special. The more he thought about it, the surer he became that that was just a one-time thing. Never before had he been much of a ladies man, outside of the facade he put on at the club, and he wasn't one now. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with them necessarily... maybe he just didn't like them. The realization didn't bother Kaoru as much as he thought it probably ought to- maybe because it wasn't really that much of a realization. He figured that even if he never really bothered to acknowledge it, he kind of always knew.

He could pretend, sure, but his days of leading ladies on only to then tell them it was all a lie were over. Shallow though the girls in question may have been, looking back, that was unnecessarily cruel.

It wasn't until he'd been toying with the idea for awhile that he finally put two and two together. Everyone thought, or at least wouldn't be surprised, that he was gay on account of the act the twins put on constantly. He didn't have to use a _lady_ to make Hikaru jealous.

The question was, which not-a-lady to choose?

Some random male student wouldn't have much impact. Heck, Hikaru might not even notice. It had to be someone they were always around, someone with whom it'd be right their in his brother's face. The solution came to him immediately this time: A fellow club member.

That gave him four options. Haruhi was out because not only was she a lady, Kaoru wouldn't do that to his brother even in jest.

Honey-senpai was... cute. Anyone with eyes could see that. Maybe not his type exactly, but undeniably adorable. Plus, cake. He wondered if maybe he could just tell him what was up and he'd go along with it. But then again, he had a feeling that Mori-senpai might have some objections- even if he, too, was in the joke. Those two were joined at the hip just as he and his brother used to be, after all.

And Mori-senpai? … No. Just no. He was a handsome guy, but Kaoru was quite sure it would never work whether he was informed of his plans or otherwise. He rather suspected that again, he was just too attached to Honey-senpai to date or even fake-date anyone. The fact that both parties could inflict grievous bodily harm on his person if went to far was also a big factor in ruling them both out.

Kyoya-senpai was a no-nonsense person, unless of course said nonsense could make him some money. He highly doubted that the black-haired boy would even consider it. He'd no time for such silly games, especially not in addition to all the silly games that went on in the host club on a regular basis.

That left...

He almost vetoed the idea just on principal. Like, seriously? Ha, no way! He wouldn't even have given the notion a second thought... if one thing hadn't made him pause. Not only did it make him stop to think, it sealed the deal outright. And that thing was this thought:

… _Hikaru would have a __**cow**__!_

With that thought in mind, and an enormous grin on his face, it was not long before he put his plan into action. One seemingly ordinary day at the host club, with no warning, he sauntered across the room and gingerly laid a hand on the shoulder of the tall, blonde person standing with his back to him.

"Hey boss~"

**Velcome, velcome, so very good to see you! Come inside, have a biscuit! Ah, another strange pairing idea, yes? I'm fond of those. Hopefully some of you are, too. How will the president of the host club react to a sudden onslaught of affection from the last person he ever expected? If nothing else, stick around because hey, free biscuits. We shall get the actual story rolling next chapter- see you soon!**

**- YummyYaoiSandwiches**


	2. Chapter 2: A Plan Set in Motion

**Chapter 2: A Plan Set in Motion**

Happy chatter and the occasional joyful shriek of an over-excited female guest filled the club room, as was the norm. It was a lovely day, free of disasters thus far. Outside the sun shone brightly, accompanied by the singing of birds and the gentle caress of a warm breeze. All was well, and Tamaki was thinking about ninjas.

They'd been on his mind since last night, after having caught the end of some sort of action movie on TV. And the more he thought about them, the more perturbed he became. If ninjas were all they were cracked up to be, who was to say the invisible warriors were not present all the time? How did he know that he was not surrounded by a dozen ninjas at this very moment? The prince personally found this to be a very valid concern. After their dealings with members of crime syndicates, the Haninozuka brothers having martial arts matches in the club room, and the occasional brush with Nekozawa-senpai and his black magic (he suppressed a shudder at the thought), could ninjas really be much of a stretch?

He did concede that it was perfectly possible that they could be friendly, polite ninjas that had just stepped in for a discreet cup of tea or a piece of cake, or perhaps even to catch a glimpse of his gorgeous face, which he definitely couldn't fault them for, but what if they weren't? What if they were sent by an evil organization who wanted nothing more than to see the Ouran host club destroyed, or even spies from Lobelia? Tamaki had contemplated asking Kyoya to install some more hidden cameras around the room just to be on the safe side, but then a thought came to him. _What if the ninjas were working for Kyoya?_

It would make perfect sense. He was certainly evil enough. The Ohtori family had a private police force, after all. It was only logical that it would include at least a few ninjas. But that was where things got complicated. Obviously, unbeknownst to his family, Kyoya had been hiring ninjas under the table for years and had amassed his own personal squadron to use for whatever nefarious purposes he pleased. The handsome blonde boy could only speculate on what he planned to do in the long run. It may seem to the uninformed observer that the ninjas were only doing odd jobs here and there, but it was almost surely part of a bigger plan. You had to look at the big picture. Today, the host club. Tomorrow, Japan. The day after that... the world.

That had to be it. World domination. That was what the bespectacled boy had been aspiring to all along.

He gulped, and did his best to act natural. He risked a glance at Kyoya, who was minding his own business, oblivious to the inner workings of his best friend's mind, in front of his laptop on the sofa.

All the pieces were slowly beginning to fall into place. The only question was, what to do with this new found information?

It was possible that the aforementioned action movie that had inspired this entire train of thought in the first place had aired somewhat late at night. It was also possible that as a result of this, the prince had not gotten as much sleep as he would otherwise.

Regardless, he was abruptly pulled from his thoughts by a hand suddenly clapping down on his shoulder.

"Hey boss~"

With a yelp, he spun around in a near panic. In his frightened state, it took him several seconds to realize who had seemingly materialized behind him.

Kaoru blinked, temporarily caught off guard. He hadn't meant to scare the other male... well, not yet, anyway. But it lasted only a moment. The younger of the Hitachiin twins wouldn't claim to have any idea what went on in his leader's head. He'd simply ignore the strangeness of the reaction and continue on with his own scheme.

"Hiya, Tamaki-senpai. Whatcha doin'?"

"K-Kaoru!" He pointed an accusatory finger at the boy in question. "Don't startle me like that! I didn't even hear you walking up behind me." He paused. "Are you secretly a ninja?!"

"... A ninja?" He couldn't help but express some puzzlement. Not that this was anywhere near the strangest thing the other had ever said. Or even recently said, for that matter.

"Nah. As good as I'd look in the tight black clothes," He accentuated the statement with an eyebrow wiggle. "...- No. I guess it's a shame, really."

"Well, good." Tamaki folded his arms. "Because, you should know, a new rule has just gone into effect in the host club: Ninjas are strictly forbidden. Hosts may not entertain them, serve them food or drink, or even allow them to be on the premises. There will be no exceptions."

"That seems like kind of a weird rule. Having ninjas around sounds like it might be kinda fun."

"No, no it would most certainly not be fun! No one is to associate with ninjas, no matter what Kyoya says! That is an order."

On the other side of the room, Kyoya's fingers ceased to dance across the keyboard for a moment. As tempting as it was to inquire... no. He didn't want to know. It wasn't worth it. He went back to typing.

"Whatever you say, boss." Kaoru shrugged. "But you know, if you're that worried about ninjas, we could just track them down and teach them a lesson. They'd never even think about coming around here again. They're surely no match for the Ouran host club... as a matter of fact, why even bother bringing everyone?" He took a step closer to the prince. "How about... just you and me?"

The redhead gave himself a mental pat on the back for that little bit of improv. Truth be told, he hadn't been positive how to react to the rather unexpected tangent about ninjas, and briefly wondered if he should come back and try again later. But nope, it seemed he could work with this after all. All his experience charming various ladies and having to come up with smooth replies to whatever they might say had not been for nothing.

"Erk!" Tamaki froze. He eyed his bespectacled friend out of the corner of his eye. "Um, no, I'm sure that won't be necessary. It's not as if there's actually any reason for anyone here to be worried about ninjas." He said carefully. "It's just a precautionary rule. No need to think much of it at all, really. I am absolutely, one-hundred percent certain that there are no ninjas in the host club."

He said that last part especially loudly. It had just occurred to him. What would happen if Kyoya knew that he knew about the ninjas? What if this wasn't acceptable? What if they had to ensure he never spoke another word of it to anyone? If they silenced him... permanently?

What with the prince's attention being elsewhere, Kaoru took the opportunity to study his senpai. Mostly to gauge his reaction. It seemed that despite the flirtatious tone he'd used, the implications had flown over his head. Also, he observed the barest hint of darkness under the boy's bright, blue eyes.

"Did you not get enough sleep last night, senpai?"

The question made his gaze snap back to Kaoru. Ninjas forgotten for the moment, he quickly slipped seamlessly back into his princely persona. He had believed himself to be masking his tired state flawlessly, but if someone had noticed, he must have slipped a bit at some point. A most uncharacteristic fumble. No matter, he'd simply turn it up a bit, plus, he had an idea. He couldn't have the ladies notice and think that he was someone how bored or disinterested with them, now could he?

"Oh, Kaoru, how kind of you for noticing." He held one hand to his chest dramatically. "It's true, I was rather restless last night. I'm ashamed that I'm not at my best for our lovely guests, but... it was the memory of their sheer beauty and my desire to bring a smile to each and every one of their beautiful faces that kept me awake into the wee hours of the morning. No matter what I tried, sleep eluded me, and even if I managed to drift into unconsciousness, I knew that my fear of disappointing them would only haunt my dreams."

An almost perfect symphony of "awwww"s echoed from all the neighboring tables. More than a few of their occupants nearly fell out of their chairs swooning.

"That's really great and all," Kaoru said dismissively. "But it would be even better if you were laying awake in your bed at night thinking about me instead."

Kyoya's fingers fumbled. The "host club" he'd been typing became the "host cub". A mildly amusing typo, if he hadn't just heard what he'd heard, and the fact that the very last thing the host club needed was a pet bear running around. He supposed the term could hypothetically apply to Kuma-chan, but knowing his luck, it would be something far more real and far more dangerous, that would cost them entirely too much money in collateral damages, and might rip Usa-chan with it's claws. Honey-senpai would proceed to beat the animal senseless, and he would have to call in a team to remove the carcass from the premises. All told, it would put them way over this month's budget. This, however, was neither here nor there.

Kaoru suppressed the urge to grin, maintaining the small, perverted smirk he'd assumed when he'd said the line. Okay, so that might have been a little bit over the line, he had to admit, especially considering that guests were watching. He was acutely aware of the multiple pairs of wide eyes that were darting back and forth between him and the prince. Several cute little gasps could be heard, along with hushed whispers.

"What's going on? Did Kaoru really just say...?"

"Is he playing a joke on Tamaki?"

"I thought Hikaru and Kaoru always did their jokes together."

"I wonder what he's going to say?"

So did Kaoru. It was sure to prove to be something amusing. If the other boy had actually caught the meaning behind the statement this time, that was. He only hoped that he could keep from bursting out laughing and ruining the entire thing right there.

It took Tamaki a few seconds to process this. To his credit, however, after but a brief moment of confusion, the gears in his head made a soft click. This, of course, only served to puzzle him even more. Surely he had misheard...

"Excuse me, Kaoru?"

He didn't even try to stop the Cheshire cat grin that sprung to his face this time. Now the fun could begin...

Haruhi had been making small talk with a table of three ladies as she refilled their teacups. They were friendly girls. Ditzy, but nice. The weather had been nice, too, and the company pleasant. All in all, she found herself in a good mood today. She'd managed to get all the laundry done yesterday, so all she had to do after club activities were over was make a quick trip to the supermarket.

The ladies were not the only ones occupying the table, though. At some point, lacking any customers at that particular moment, he had observed that they and Haruhi all appeared to be having a good time, and without even consciously thinking about it had sauntered over to join them. If he thought about it, which he didn't, because he was a bit of a lunkhead, he may have noticed that things like this were happening increasingly often. One look at her cheerful, relaxed smile, and all concentrated thought seemed to simply flee from his mind as though afraid he had cooties, and his legs would move on their own to carry him toward her.

Currently, he was laughing at something one of the girls had said. It was one of Haruhi's admirers, but one of his own fans was seated next to her. For as time had gone on, and the more time he had begun to spend with Haruhi and the less time he and Kaoru spent doing their brotherly-love schtick, a change had slowly taken place. With no twincest to squeal over, the ladies who normally went crazy over that kind of thing were left without much to do. As such, most simply settled for following one twin or the other- those who followed Hikaru had now basically ended up merging with Haruhi's fans, since that's where he could usually be found. Those that followed Kaoru would find that, though he was polite, didn't seem to have a great deal of interest in entertaining them at length on his own, though he still had one or two loyal fans. As a matter of fact, when he did take the time to sit down with the ladies, since he was now alone and probably had little else to do at the club that day, the experience was quite a bit more personal. The girls in question found that, little by little, it felt like they were getting to know him more on a friends/classmates basis, rather than an image to be swooned over. The same was true for those that clung to the other twin. All had thought this marked change strange at first, but in the end, the club hadn't heard any complaints; the ladies were enjoying themselves anyway.

Another round of chuckles rippled around the table. This time apparently the red-haired host had been the instigator of the mirth, and Haruhi batted him playfully on the shoulder. This would only cause everyone to erupt into more giggling.

Such a happy, relaxed atmosphere...

Kaoru felt the strangest combination of happiness for all parties involved and nausea. He dearly hoped that they wouldn't be so giggly and bubbly as a couple.

"Kaoru..." Tamaki stared at the younger boy, running a hand through his blonde locks. "I find your behavior highly inappropriate. You know good and well this is no way to behave in front of guests."

This drew his gaze back from the table across the room to his senpai. Ah yes, back to the matter at hand...

"I don't have time to engage in whatever silly game you're trying to start. If you must, go play with Hikaru."

He smirked up at the blonde boy. He could tell he was trying to maintain a composed, authoritative air in front of the many guests watching the exchange- and to mask the fact that he was visibly very confused.

Not that it mattered, though. Kaoru had anticipated this reaction. Although, he had to admit, he'd not given much thought as to how to respond to it. He was making most of this up on the fly. He hadn't supposed the older boy's actions really mattered so much as the fact that Hikaru saw him snuggling up to someone- the specific someone his brother would be most unhappy about him snuggling up to.

That was the thing, though. As of yet, Hikaru was still obliviously chatting with the party at the table.

That just meant he would have to turn things up a few notches- and the other boy had just given him the most brilliant idea.

"But boss," He whined plaintively, looking at the other with big, sad eyes. "Hikaru's obviously busy. See?" He pointed. "He's entertaining those girls over there with Haruhi. I couldn't be so rude as to take his attention away from his duties as a host. Especially since," He reached out and took hold of one of the other boy's palms with both hands, simultaneously leaning in very close to his face. Tamaki, for his part, jumped and immediately leaned away on instinct, more than a little startled at the sudden movements.

"...- You're right. I'm not conducting myself like a good host. I guess I've really been slipping lately... but it's hard... I've never been on my own like this, you know?"

The ladies that had been observing the entire conversation since the beginning obviously began whispering and theorizing to each other anew in response to these sudden developments. This attracted the attention of the other guests, and soon enough the word began to spread throughout the entire club.

The table on the other side of the room was not exempt. As the commotion worked it's way further and further, all heads turned to see what the buzz was all about. Hikaru looked up and glanced curiously around the room before he found what everyone was looking at- when he did, his eyes widened.

"What is he doing...?"

"And I was thinking. I need to be able to perform my duties in the club and make all of our princesses happy, whether I'm alone or not. If I can't do that, what good am I?"

"Kaoru... I-..."

"I need to really master all the necessary skills- only the best for our guests, right? So I thought, where better to turn than the incredibly handsome master himself? Starting as soon as possible, I want you to train me to be a proper solo-host!" In spite of himself, the smallest of smirks crept it's way onto his face. "_Privately~_."

**Bah! I'm sorry guys- in addition to my internet access being really quite limited these days, I've also been completely scattered lately. I'm not fit to write fanfiction for you lovely people! * emo corner ***

**Anyway, for those of you who are still with me, will Tamaki agree to privately train Kaoru in being a solo-host? And if so, what stunts will the mischievous Hitachiin pull behind closed doors? What will Hikaru have to say about this situation? Nothing good, that's for sure! See you next time!**


	3. Chapter 3: An Unplanned Lesson

**Chapter 3: An Unplanned Lesson**

"Boss," Kaoru found his eye twitching ever so slightly in irritation. "I said _privately_."

"In due time, Kaoru." Tamaki waved, as though attempting to physically bat away the complaint. "Before we can properly begin intense training, we must first decide what angle we're going for. Previously, your and Hikaru's joint appeal was your brotherly love routine. Minus your brother, we're going to have to re-work your entire character- and I would be a fool not to consult an expert on these matters when we have one in-house."

"There are a few different ways we can go about this." Renge paced slowly back and forth in front of the sofa the red-headed boy was seated on, her chin held in one hand, deep in thought. "Not taking into account the twincest aspect, Hikaru and Kaoru are basically your standard seme and uke duo. We could stick with what's familiar and portray Kaoru as a lone uke, wandering helplessly like a lost kitten without an owner. He's kind and respectful, maybe even shy around the ladies, and oblivious to their deep affections. Standard characteristics of a helpless uke are large eyes, a girly face and crying constantly."

"But don't all of those things apply to pretty much everyone in the club? Except maybe Mori-senpai, we're all pretty and we can all cry on command."

"Shame that only some of us are capable of doing so without the use of eye drops." Tamaki commented in a disapproving tone.

"Which is one of the reasons that approach won't work." The manager of the host club continued. "Besides that, if we were going in that direction, Honey-senpai would be the most logical choice for that kind of character. We're going to have to do something different, but not so drastically different that it seems to come out of left field to your audience."

"So Renge, what do you suggest?" The host king asked.

An almost manic looking grin appeared on her face. "I thought you'd never ask!" She turned to Kaoru. The Hitachiin boy would be lying if he said he wasn't somewhat afraid of the direction this could be going in.

"Given that you're the uke in the Hikaru/Kaoru relationship and the fact that you've proven to be the one most likely to exhibit homosexual tendencies both inside and outside the club, I feel it only makes sense to go roughly in that same direction, but with a twist. We must shift your character to that of the Wholesome Cross-dresser!"

Kaoru nearly choked on his own tongue.

"... Er," Tamaki tentatively began after a moment. "A most fascinating suggestion, Renge..." As he carefully considered how to tell the girl in front of him that that idea might not be the best one to go with without revealing the fact that their club technically already had a wholesome cross-dresser, he caught sight of the other boy trying to catch his eye in the corner of his vision. Feeling that a break might be in order for everyone, he put on a warm smile and continued on.

"I think this idea warrants more in-depth discussion. Would you be so kind as to give me some time to discuss it one-on-one with my new protege?"

"Why, most certainly." She smiled, confident that her plan was indeed perfect. "Just call if you need anything. I should start coming up with ideas for what kind of clothes he should wear right now!" With that, she bounded happily out of the room, chuckling quietly all the way. The two males left alone in the room waited until the door slammed shut behind her.

"Tamaki-senpai~" Kaoru whined as pathetically as he could, although he had to admit, he found it a bit difficult to get back into character after the long spiel he'd been stuck listening to. Even before discussion about revamping his character came up, he first had to deal with a barrage of questions from a flabbergasted Renge, who had arisen from the floor shortly after he'd announced his desire for private training, demanding to know why he would ever want to break up the beautiful thing he had with Hikaru and yadda yadda yadda. Thankfully she'd eventually calmed down and, once business hours were properly over, everyone else was shoe'd out of the club room.

Not that that necessarily meant they weren't still nearby...

Renge let out a startled squeak as found herself being quite unexpectedly grabbed by the shoulders, having barely made it two steps out of the club room. She found herself face to face with none other than the other Hitachiin twin, who looked equal parts panicked, confused and possibly even furious.

"Renge!" He tightened his grip on her shoulder for emphasis. "What is going on in there?"

"Kaoru, Rome was not built in a day." Tamaki chided. "I know you're eager to get into serious training, but we can't simply leap ahead just because you've been a host before. When undertaking such a major change, it's best to start from the ground up."

"But boss~" He rose from his seat on the sofa, wrapping both hands around the prince's neck and leaning heavily against him. "At the rate we're going, it'll be way too long before I can get back out there and start pleasing the ladies." He stared straight up into the other boy's eyes. "Or anyone else~"

Tamaki fought the urge to squirm away from the physical contact. Not that he was exactly surprised at this point. The boy had been practically hanging on him since making his declaration earlier that day. Still, that didn't mean he understood the reason for the behavior. All things considered, he was acting downright strange. Although if he thought about it, the request in and of itself made some amount of sense, as Hikaru and Kaoru weren't seen together at the club much these days, and that had kind of been the whole point of having twins. But that didn't explain why he was acting so... what was the word he was looking for? Clingy? Taking into account the fact that no attempts had been made on his life as of yet, the blonde concluded that this entire incident could not somehow indicate or be the direct result of Kaoru secretly being a ninja, so... despite saying he wished to be able to stand on his own, could it be that the red-haired boy, seemingly abandoned by his dear brother, was searching for someone else to temporarily cling to...?

Whatever the motivation, he'd come to him for help. Strange or not, the prince silently promised himself like any other person who had ever come to seek his aid, he would not rest until Kaoru was happy.

Kaoru, for his part, found himself honestly already growing a bit bored. Granted, most of that had come from having to sit through Renge's ranting. He really should've anticipated, but he hadn't, and at the time he was expecting a more immediate reaction from Hikaru. If there had been much of one, he'd missed it simply due to the raving girl in his face, blocking his view.

He wasn't going to give up that easily, however. There was still a lot of potential fun to be had, if he worked at it, plus it would be a bit hard to back down gracefully after making such a scene in front of the entire club room. And he had to admit, watching the boss trying to act like the mighty and confident host king despite the fact that Kaoru's actions were clearly making him uncomfortable was actually pretty funny.

The question was, where to go from here? He had to keep this game going. Renge had managed to derail the plan rather a bit, not to mention the fact that Tamaki was taking the entire thing very seriously. He had to get back on track somehow.

"Well, maybe you do have a point, boss." He said. "All that stuff we were talking about before is important. How about this? As a compromise, why don't we start slow and just work on things every host needs to know, regardless of character type?"

"Such as?" Tamaki raised an eyebrow, although he was secretly thankful the younger boy has spoken, since he himself was still puzzling over how to respond to his previous statement.

"Well, you know how me and Hikaru were always charming the ladies together? I was thinking, since I wasn't on my own, I didn't really have to try as hard, since their attention would be torn between the two of us. Now that I'm on my own, I can't afford to relax like that. So here's a basic lesson: Why don't you show me how to look into a girl's eyes and make her feel like nothing else in the world even matters?"

The prince paused to consider this idea.

"... I thought you seemed fairly competent in that particular area, Kaoru."

"Aw, come on, senpai. Even if I've done it before, everyone knows you're the best at it."

Well, he couldn't argue with that.

"... I suppose that's harmless enough. Very well, Kaoru." He clapped his hands together with a satisfied smile, all discomfort temporarily forgotten as his ego reveled in the compliment. "Pay close attention, now. You're going to watch the master at work."

Hook, line and sinker, the red-haired boy silently mused to himself. Predictable. Flattery would get him everywhere with this guy.

Turning to face him fully, the blonde boy gingerly reach out and ran a hand slowly along the other's jaw line before coming to delicately rest on his chin, tilting his head upwards with two fingers, no differently than he would one of the club's princesses. Soft blue, almost violet-tinted eyes met a pair of mischievous yellow ones with a gaze normally only reserved for beautiful maidens.

"Oh, boss~" Kaoru whispered in the dreamiest tone possible. "If you keep looking at me like that~ I might just..."

"Dammit, Renge, let me go!" Hikaru failed wildly, hands desperately reaching for the door handle mere inches from his grasp. "I need to talk to Kaoru! This is all way too weird, I'm going in there!"

Renge held fast to his waist."No way, this is important, you have to leave this to the experts, you'll mess everything up-!"

"I might just..."

Being as the two individuals hanging around outside the door were at this point being less than quiet, the din easily reached Kaoru's ears. He could hardly believe his luck. This was going to be tricky- he had to time it exactly right...

"Let go of the door handle!"

"Kaoru!"

"I might just fall for you~"

The door flung open with a bang.

It was a loud sound. A startling sound, if one wasn't expecting it. Just the kind of sound that might accidentally cause a person to jump and lose their footing. He had to admit, when he had first conceived this little plan, he hadn't intended to go quite this far- but this was an absolutely golden opportunity. All of the planets had to have alined correctly or something to allow for this kind of timing. It was entirely too perfect- there was no way he could pass it up.

In one smooth motion, the younger Hitachiin twin "accidentally" stumbled forward. Or so it would look like an accident to the blonde boy in front of him, but to Hikaru, who had just arrived on the scene, if this went right, it would be thoroughly ambiguous as to whether it was an "accident" or not, or at best, he would look too late to notice much of a stumble at all and assume it was entirely intentional- which, technically, it was.

His lips crashed somewhat sloppily into Tamaki's. For maximum effect, he gripped the front of the other boy's jacket and pulled him closer. Eyes closed, he only hoped he wouldn't miss the look on Hikaru's face. Tamaki's eyes, however, were wide open. And Hikaru's... well, the size of dinner plates would be an apt description.

The room was dead silent. The chirping of birds outside sounded more loudly than anything else. If you listened closely enough, you could probably hear the evil laughter echoing from inside Kaoru's head.

Tamaki's lips were soft, which wasn't exactly a surprise, but was not something he'd ever really bothered to think about. They also tasted very vaguely of chocolate- someone had been hitting Honey-senpai up for sweets again, no doubt.

"What. The. Hell."

He drew away, fighting to keep the grin off his face. Assuming his best expression of startled surprise, he turned towards the door.

Hikaru stood stock still. His mouth was moving up and down, but no words were coming out. His face was frozen somewhere between utter disbelief and something akin to murderous rage- as though his brain was processing the scene he'd just walked in on but was doing its best to tell him it was a lie.

Tamaki, trying and failing to gather his wits, stood for a few seconds simply staring at Kaoru. Then he looked at Hikaru. Then back at Kaoru. Then back at Hikaru. And then back at Kaoru.

"Oh wow." Renge breathed. "That's... wrong. That's... brilliant. Oh my gosh. Talk about a crack pairing. This is amazing!"

Unfortunately, not everyone in the room shared her enthusiasm.

"Kaoru!" Hikaru shouted, finally seeming to regain control of his own voice. He lurched forward out of Renge's grip, which now offered little resistance, and sprinted across the room to grab his brother by the arm. "You come with me right now!"

"Hikaru, wait-!"

The cry fell on deaf ears. Before he could even register what was happening, Kaoru found himself practically dragged out of the club room.

Tamaki watched them go, then continued to stare incredulously at the doorway they had disappeared past.

"Wow," Renge repeated. "I'm going to have to make a new doujinshi!"

**I have no excuse. For the longest time I just couldn't make myself sit down and write this chapter. Sorry guys. On the upside, I think it came out a little better than it would have if I'd written it when I'd planned to. Sorry it's still short. Sigh. Oh well. On the next chapter of Just For a Laugh, how will Kaoru explain to Hikaru what was going on? Will he make an excuse, and if so, will his twin buy it? What will Tamaki make of this even stranger turn of events? Will Renge's new doujinshi sell well? Find out, on the next Just For a Laugh!**

**- YummyYaoiSandwiches**


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